Air purifier



' April 2, 1940.

w. J. FRICKE AIR PURIFIER Original Filed June 13, 1934 INVENTOR. v WILL/HM JOHN FE/CKE H/5 ATTORNEY.

x Patented Apr. 2, 1940 PATENT OFFICE AIR PUB-1E8 William John Fricke, San Francisco, call! as- D. Billiard Company,

signor to San Francisco, Calif., a corporation or California Original application June 1:, 1934, Serial No.

230,4.01.v Divided and this-application September 17, .1937. Serial No. 164,383

2 cmv(c1. 183-48) This is a division of my copending application Serial No. 730,401, filed June 13, 1934, now Patent.No. 2,096,851 issued'Oct. 26, 1937.

My invention relates to air purifiers, and the broad object of my invention is to provide means for purifying and cooling compressed air being supplied for breathing purposes.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the following description of my invention. It is to be understood that I do not limit myself to this disclosure of species of my invention, as I may adopt variant embodiments thereof within the scope bf the claims.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a purifier embodying the improvements of my invention; and

Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a modified construction.

In terms of broad inclusion, the air purifier embodying my invention comprises a chamber in which compressed air may expand to cool it and condense the entrained moisture. A canister is removably mounted in the purifier unit, through which the expanded air may pass, and suitable filtering materials are provided in the canister. The canister is preferably suspended in the expansion chamber, and a hollow head is 00 provided on the unit for receiving the air from the canister.

In greater detail, and referring to Figure 1 of the drawing, the air purifier comprises a cylindrically-shaped casing 2 having suitable legs 35 3 and providing an expansion chamber for compressed air entering through an inlet 4. A drain cock 6 at the bottom of the chamber provides means for removing collected fluids. As the compressed air enters the chamber formed by casing 2 it expands. This expansion cools the warm air and also condenses the moisture, both results being desirable in conditioning the air for breathing purposes.

A canister l is provided in the purifier unit a suitable material for absorbing organic vapors. 55 The canister is preferably suspended in the rect it to 'an outlet 2|.

expansion chamber bY'an inner chamber I! which projects downwardly into the expansion chamber and is spaced from the 'side and bottom walls of the latter. A supporting flange l3 on the upper end of the inner chamber extends 5 outwardly and overlies a flange H of the expansion chamber. Gasket I6 is provided between the flanges to seal the joint.

The inner chamber I2 is about the same height as the canister, so that the latter will 1 stand upright, and a gasket I! is provided in the bottom of the inner chamber, upon which the canister may seat. An aperture iii in the bottom! of the chamber l2 provides an opening through which air from the expansion chamber 15 may pass into the canister.

A suitable head I 9 is mounted on the upper end of the expansion chamber 2, and is hollowed out to receive the air from the canister and di- Head l9 has a flange 22 20 overlying the inner chamber flange i3, and a suitable gasket 23 is also provided betweenthese parts. The flanges are clamped together by bolts 24 when the unit is assembled.

In order to hold the canister against move- 5 ment a coil spring 28 is preferably interposed between the upper end of the canister and the head IS. The pressure of this spring on the canister keeps the latter from shifting, and also presses the lower rim against the gasket H to 30 insure a tight seal between the canister and the expansion chamber. By this arrangement the canister is held firmly when the unit is assembled, but may readily be removed and replaced by a fresh canister when the, filtering materials are exhausted.

In the modified structure shown in Figure 2 a double seal is provided by extending the upper gasket'2l inwardly to overlie the canister. In this construction the spring 26 rests on the 40 gasket 21, thereby sealing the upper as well as the lower end of the canister.

I claim:

1. An air purifier comprising a chamber for receiving air, a canister apertured at top and bottom and containing filtering material through which air from the chamber may pass, means within the chamber for supporting the lower end of the canister and providing communication between the chamber and lower apertures of the canister, a gasket between the lower rim portions of the canister and support, a hollow head over the chamber and communicating with the upper apertures oi. the canister, a gasket between the chamber and head and extending inwardly over amazes support for the lower end of the canister, said inner chamber being open at the bottom to provide communication between the air chamber and the lower apertures 01 the canister, a gasket between thelower rim portions of the canister and the supporting flange, a head over the air chamber and providing communication with the upper apertures of the canister, and a spring interposed between the head and canister tor pressing the latter into sealing engagement with 10 the gasket. v

WILLIAM JOHN FRICKE. 

